AI Reads 2,000-Year-Old Scroll Buried By the Vesuvius Eruption

• Blockchain Council
• September 13, 2024

In a monumental achievement that combines cutting-edge technology and historical discovery, artificial intelligence has successfully deciphered a 2,000-year-old scroll that lay buried beneath the ashes of Mount Vesuvius’ catastrophic eruption in A.D. 79. This remarkable feat was accomplished through the collaborative efforts of three participants in the Vesuvius Challenge, a competition that commenced in March 2023, drawing individuals from around the globe to unlock the secrets hidden within the ancient Herculaneum papyri.

The papyri, often referred to as the Herculaneum scrolls, have long been shrouded in mystery due to their fragile, carbonized state. These invaluable artifacts, resembling charred logs, were discovered within the ruins of a luxurious Roman villa in Herculaneum, a town adjacent to the infamous Pompeii, which met a similar fiery fate during the same eruption. While over 1,000 scrolls were unearthed from this villa in the 18th century, their inked contents remained tantalizingly inaccessible, with attempts to unfurl them resulting in disintegration.

The breakthrough in cracking this ancient enigma came in the form of the Vesuvius Challenge, a brainchild of Brent Seales, a computer scientist at the University of Kentucky, and the support of Silicon Valley backers. Launched in 2023, the challenge aimed to harness the power of high-resolution CT scans, conducted at the Diamond Light Source particle accelerator in the UK, to extract hidden text from these scrolls. A total prize pool of one million dollars was offered to incentivize researchers to tackle this formidable task.

The triumphant team, comprised of Luke Farritor, a computer science student from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Youssef Nader, a Ph.D. student specializing in machine learning at Freie University in Berlin, and Julian Schilliger, a robotics student hailing from ETH Zürich in Switzerland, rose to the challenge. Their journey to success began with individual contributions, with Farritor and Nader initially detecting a smaller number of letters, earning $40,000 and $10,000, respectively. The pivotal turning point came when Schilliger introduced a groundbreaking tool designed to automatically segment these delicate scrolls. The trio’s collective efforts eventually led them to claim the coveted $700,000 grand prize.

The scroll’s content, once unveiled, opened a window into the world of ancient philosophy, specifically the school of Epicureanism. The deciphered text, presented in ancient Greek, delves into a discourse on the concept of pleasure and its relationship with scarcity. One striking passage reads, “As too in the case of food, we do not right away believe things that are scarce to be absolutely more pleasant than those which are abundant.” This insight into ancient philosophical thought provides a unique glimpse into the intellectual debates of that era.

One of the most intriguing aspects of this discovery lies in the mystery surrounding the author’s identity. While the scroll’s author remains unnamed, experts in the field have proposed compelling theories. Richard Janko, a professor of classical studies at the University of Michigan, and Robert Fowler, a professor of Greek at the University of Bristol, both contend that the author is likely Philodemus, an Epicurean philosopher and poet. The content of the scroll aligns with the philosophical views of Philodemus, who valued pleasure above all but in a nuanced and thoughtful manner.

Nat Friedman, a tech investor, and one of the organizers of the Vesuvius Challenge, emphasized the profound impact of this discovery. He remarked, “I can’t help but read it as a 2000-year-old blog post, arguing with another poster. It’s ancient Substack, and people are beefing with each other, and I think that’s just amazing.” This perspective highlights the timeless nature of human intellectual discourse and the resonance of philosophical inquiries across the ages.

The scroll deciphered by the winning submission represents just a fraction of the larger collection of Herculaneum scrolls. Over 800 such scrolls were discovered within the southern Italian villa, initially uncovered over two centuries ago. The combined efforts of competitors and organizers have resulted in the reading of approximately 5% of a single scroll. The remaining scrolls remain a tantalizing challenge for future generations of researchers.

The Vesuvius Challenge, which unfolded over the course of nearly a year, witnessed a dynamic interplay of cooperation and competition among participants. They shared their evolving techniques, posting images of their progress on Discord, a social media platform. However, as the competition intensified towards the grand prize, Discord fell silent, marking a pivotal moment in this historical journey.

Among the eighteen submissions vying for the grand prize, most arrived on the contest’s final day, December 31, with three submissions arriving in the final ten minutes, according to Friedman. The suspense and excitement surrounding this moment were palpable, as the winning submission’s significance became clear.

The winning submission adheres meticulously to criteria set in March 2023. It consists of four passages, each containing 140 characters, with at least 85% of characters in each passage recoverable by professional papyrologists. In addition, the submission includes a further 11 columns of text, adding depth and richness to the deciphered content.

The implications of this discovery extend beyond the immediate thrill of unveiling an ancient scroll’s secrets. It has the potential to reshape our understanding of key periods in ancient history and philosophy. Robert Fowler, chair of the Herculaneum Society and a classicist, remarked, “Some of these texts could completely rewrite the history of key periods of the ancient world.” This realization underscores the transformative power of this breakthrough.

The authorship of the scroll, likely Philodemus, offers valuable insights into ancient philosophical thought. His discussions on music, food, and the nature of pleasure resonate with timeless questions about the sources of human enjoyment. Fowler interprets the scroll’s content as an exploration of the interplay between elements in creating pleasure. 

As we look to the future, the Vesuvius Challenge has announced a new grand prize for 2024, with the aim of accelerating the AI-enhanced decoding process. The primary focus remains on developing algorithms for automatic letter detection and, crucially, automating the segmentation of these delicate scrolls. The challenge for the upcoming year is to streamline and automate this process, moving ever closer to unlocking the mysteries contained within the remaining scrolls.